Two Red Bulls Suspended 10 Games

Talk about a shocker of a release that just came down from the league front office.

Both Jon Conway and Jeff Parke have been suspended by the league for substance abuse.

Major League Soccer Commissioner Don Garber announced today that he has suspended and fined New York Red Bulls players Jon Conway and Jeff Parke for violating the MLS Substance Abuse and Behavioral Health (SABH) Policy by testing positive for androstatriendione (ATD) and boldenone metabolites, performance-enhancing substances.

Each player is suspended for 10 MLS games, including regular season and playoffs, effective immediately, and each has also been fined 10 percent of his annual salary. During the suspension, the players may not participate in any other competitions.

The players purchased and ingested an over-the-counter nutritional supplement containing ATD, a substance that metabolizes into boldenone. Both ATD and boldenone are banned substances under MLS’s SABH policy. The supplement was purchased from a vitamin store that is part of a national chain.

“MLS has one of the strictest drug policies in professional sports and holds its athletes both responsible and accountable for what they put into their bodies,” Garber said. “This is an important statement as to the high standards to which we hold our players.”

Wow, pretty crazy. New York loses two important players for the rest of the year and part of next year. Gosh. Kudos to the league for a swift punishment though, they don’t need a black-eye on this subject like other league have had in the past.